In 2022, I was unemployed, underqualified, and honestly just bored. My job hunt had turned into a spiral of sending applications into the void and refreshing Gmail like it owed me money. So, one night, high on instant noodles and low on impulse control, I decided to spice things up.
I made a fake resume. Not notcam anyone. More, but more a parody. I claimed I was a “Workflow Optimization Executive” at a pizza place I got fired from. I said a “cross-functional team of delivery experts” (aka I told two drivers where to go during a snowstorm once). I even added “fluent in cloud-based solutions” because I once used Google Drive.
Sent it off just for laughs. Closed the laptop. Slept like a clown.
Two days later, *ding!* I got an interview.
At first, I thought it was spam. But no. Real company. Real position. Real salary. I debated ghosting them, but curiosity got the best of me. I prepped like mad. Googled terms I didn’t understand on my resume. Practiced smiling while sounding like I knew what “agile infrastructure migration” meant.
Long story short, I got the job.
It turns out everyone there was also winging it. The first week, my manager asked if I could “spin up a dashboard for the team KPIs,” and I just stared at her like a golden retriever trying to do taxes. But she clarified, and it wasn’t even that hard. I YouTubed half my training. Nobody ever questioned my background.
Now it’s been over a year. I got promoted. I make good money. I even help *interview* new hires. Every now and then, I stare at my LinkedIn and think: “I invented 70% of this timeline.”
But here’s the kicker, I’m good at the job now. Like… good. I didn’t scam my way into success. I faked it long enough to *become* it.
Still haven’t told anyone I started as a joke.
I made a fake resume. Not notcam anyone. More, but more a parody. I claimed I was a “Workflow Optimization Executive” at a pizza place I got fired from. I said a “cross-functional team of delivery experts” (aka I told two drivers where to go during a snowstorm once). I even added “fluent in cloud-based solutions” because I once used Google Drive.
Sent it off just for laughs. Closed the laptop. Slept like a clown.
Two days later, *ding!* I got an interview.
At first, I thought it was spam. But no. Real company. Real position. Real salary. I debated ghosting them, but curiosity got the best of me. I prepped like mad. Googled terms I didn’t understand on my resume. Practiced smiling while sounding like I knew what “agile infrastructure migration” meant.
Long story short, I got the job.
It turns out everyone there was also winging it. The first week, my manager asked if I could “spin up a dashboard for the team KPIs,” and I just stared at her like a golden retriever trying to do taxes. But she clarified, and it wasn’t even that hard. I YouTubed half my training. Nobody ever questioned my background.
Now it’s been over a year. I got promoted. I make good money. I even help *interview* new hires. Every now and then, I stare at my LinkedIn and think: “I invented 70% of this timeline.”
But here’s the kicker, I’m good at the job now. Like… good. I didn’t scam my way into success. I faked it long enough to *become* it.
Still haven’t told anyone I started as a joke.
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